FTA system Dunne stores

St Senan

I see Dunnes are selling the Phillex satellite system for € 69.95 better quality than the Dustbin lid Aldi/Lidl sell
http://www.dunnesstores.ie/page.php?pid=471

ISAA

Dunnes stores for better value

pa990

i'm all for fta sat systems.. But i think a lot of regular joe soap's would be better off with freesat, and it's 7day epg and auto updates etc

ISAA

I agree, Freesat :

7 day EPG,
automatic channel update,
excellent product,
customer friendly,:)

FTA receiver:
No EPG 7 day, next programme only,
No automatic update,
cheap receiver,
Not customer friendly,:mad:

Regards,

St Senan

I totally agree with you both. But the ordinary Joe soap customer would rather spend €70 in Dunnes stores, Aldi /lidl or somewhere else that sells cheap satellite systems than spend €250 upwards for a Freesat system. To them its still provides free English channels.The amount of times i have to explain to people enquiring about the differance between FTA satellite systems and Freesat/Sat4free.

TheDriver

and after they spend 70 euro, they are then asking all the usual questions wondering how to get RTE etc on their FTA box.......................

Trevord

pa990 wrote: »

i'm all for fta sat systems.. But i think a lot of regular joe soap's would be better off with freesat, and it's 7day epg and auto updates etc

I suppose €70 euro is an affordable low risk investment for someone who does not know very much about satellite TV.

A lot of people are so used to paying a fee to watch foreign channels that they need major convincing that Sky don't the sky, and they can actually get these channels free.

Some of these people will migrate to Freesat and for those that do, in hindsight they will feel they should have got the freesat box and twin or quad lnb from day one.

There is still a very low level of promotion of the existence of Freesat, which is puzzling. BBC could do this very easily between programmes like they did when Freeview launched.

JDxtra

scaller wrote: »

I totally agree with you both. But the ordinary Joe soap customer would rather spend €70 in Dunnes stores, Aldi /lidl or somewhere else that sells cheap satellite systems than spend €250 upwards for a Freesat system. To them its still provides free English channels.The amount of times i have to explain to people enquiring about the differance between FTA satellite systems and Freesat/Sat4free.

No, a Freesat reciever is cheaper than that. You must be referring to the recorder - which is not a good comparison to use against this Dunnes receiver.

As an example, you can purchase the rather poor BUSH Freesat SD reciever in the UK for £29.99.

St Senan

JDxtra wrote: »

No, a Freesat reciever is cheaper than that. You must be referring to the recorder - which is not a good comparison to use against this Dunnes receiver.

As an example, you can purchase the rather poor BUSH Freesat SD reciever in the UK for £29.99.

I am referring to a full Freesat/sat4free system installed, freesat receiver and dish and installation

TheDriver

but anyone who can do a DIY job on a 70euro system can do a DIY freesat system, if you have to pay 250 euro, then you have no business getting the Dunnes system. I don't see your argument? You see all the Lidl dish people who pick up the bargain and then have trouble putting it up afterwards....

slegs

scaller wrote: »

I am referring to a full Freesat/sat4free system installed, freesat receiver and dish and installation

You can buy a decent 60cm dish pack with LNB, mount and fittings for 40 eur or less sometimes. With a low end freesat box that can be got for under 50 eur it easily makes more sense than these Lidl/Aldi/Dunnes FTA kits which are of lesser quality usually.

St Senan

slegs wrote: »

You can buy a decent 60cm dish pack with LNB, mount and fittings for 40 eur or less sometimes. With a low end freesat box that can be got for under 50 eur it easily makes more sense than these Lidl/Aldi/Dunnes FTA kits which are of lesser quality usually.

I know that slegs. Thats why joe soap customer will pay €70 for a cheap system instead of €250 upwards for a Freesat system installed. And if people are wanting to Know why i am saying €250 for freesat installation
Just check some websites or ring your local installer and ask him for a quote on installing a 60cm dish with Freesat receiver with a 7 day Epg not a bog standard free to air satellite receiver also i have noticed a lot of guys in the busniess are mentioning Freesat when in fact they are supplying Free to air boxes

http://www.ftasystems.ie/freesatpacks.html
http://www.freesat.ie/index.php?cat=Freesat&ActinicSID=440bfc3d049c2e13d18e7b46200d9b2c
http://www.digitaltv.ie/
http://satellite.ie/acatalog/BBC_Free_to_view.html
http://www.delahuntysolutions.com/FreeView.html
http://www.byebyetvbills.ie/satellite.html

St Senan

TheDriver wrote: »

I don't see your argument?.

I have no argument. But whats happening with all these cheap satellite systems flooding the market is damaging to this buisness. People will buy a cheap system in either Dunnes, Aldi/Lidl or a car boot sale for less than €90 and Expect a Installer to fit it cheaper than what they paid for it.

Sam Russell

Interesting that www.digitaltv.ie lists SC4 as one of its Freeview channels, given that they are based in Oldcastle.

Must need a TV aerial on a balloon.:D

You are right that there is confusion, and it is spread by the trade. Sky News is not available on Freesat. Freeview is not readily avaiable for most of the country. Freeview is not able to receive SaorView.

There are a lot of people being sold expensive underperforming kit.:mad:

Tony

scaller wrote: »

http://www.byebyetvbills.ie/satellite.html

That last URL is class

Tony

Sam Russell wrote: »

You are right that there is confusion, and it is spread by the trade.

Would it not be fairer to say its spread by some in the trade who sell FTA boxes as Freesat?

LordSutch

Sam Russell wrote: »

Sky News is not available on Freesat.

That's interesting, because it is available 'Free to Air'

slegs

scaller wrote: »

I know that slegs. Thats why joe soap customer will pay €70 for a cheap system instead of €250 upwards for a Freesat system installed. And if people are wanting to Know why i am saying €250 for freesat installation
Just check some websites or ring your local installer and ask him for a quote on installing a 60cm dish with Freesat receiver with a 7 day Epg not a bog standard free to air satellite receiver also i have noticed a lot of guys in the busniess are mentioning Freesat when in fact they are supplying Free to air boxes

http://www.ftasystems.ie/freesatpacks.html
http://www.freesat.ie/index.php?cat=Freesat&ActinicSID=440bfc3d049c2e13d18e7b46200d9b2c
http://www.digitaltv.ie/
http://satellite.ie/acatalog/BBC_Free_to_view.html
http://www.delahuntysolutions.com/FreeView.html
http://www.byebyetvbills.ie/satellite.html

To be fair to the guys in the trade, they are selling the full installed package as that is what people are generally looking for when they go to them instead of Aldi/lidl/Dunnes. But some of those sites also sell the individual dish packs and receivers which are equivalent to buying your DIY pack in Aldi/Lidl/Dunnes but usually of a better quality.

I dont think there is intent to con people into spending more than they have to - its just that there are so many options it is a very confusing area for consumers. Good professional TV installation is the same as any professional service - you get what you pay for. It is cheaper to do your own plumbing also but for the average person they would not dream of taking this job on DIY.

Calling a Free to air setup Freesat is something that really annoys me though and just helps to add to the mass confusion

AstralTV

agree totally,

St Senan

slegs wrote: »

Calling a Free to air setup Freesat is something that really annoys me though and just helps to add to the mass confusion

That's my point the ordinary Joe soap customer don't Know the differance between Freesat and bog Standard Free to Air satellite to them its just a way of getting English tv for free. And they would rather spend €70 than €250
As a fellow poster always says cheap is not cheerful.

Sam Russell

Tony wrote: »

Would it not be fairer to say its spread by some in the trade who sell FTA boxes as Freesat?

@Tony: Of course it is only some, but in my experience, the level of ignorance in the (particularly UK) tv retailers is remarkable. I have stopped bothering to ask anymore about TVs or aerials. I bought a TV aerial from a supplier who insisted that I needed a group A to receive 3Rock, and when I said RTENL say a group W, his response was 'We always use a group A." But he did sel me a group W log periodic. Maybe it makes no difference, perhaps a bit of bent wire may be good enough, but that is not what he recommended. In another retailer, I could not buy a group W because they never sold any - only group A. [TG4 and DTT are all above Ch50 from 3Rock].

Freesat, Free to Air. Free to View, Freeview are all interchangeable in my experience. No wonder there is confusion.

Tony

Sam Russell wrote: »

Freesat, Free to Air. Free to View, Freeview are all interchangeable in my experience. No wonder there is confusion.

Yes I agree there is confusion but I think this all started back with Freeview and free to view etc all similar terms that mean different things and comsumers cannot be expected to know the difference straight off, they are not exactly self explanatory terms. I think perhaps some in the trade take advantage of this as mentioned earlier selling cheaper free to air as freesat. Theres also a problem with Tv retailers selling Tv's with UK freeview built in, people often mistake it for a satellite tuner.

AstralTV

just like NTL, CHORUS, UPC was called 'the pipe'

54kroc

Tony wrote: »

That last URL is class

They even include "Dish Alignment and Signal Tuning" which is handy.

ISAA

Look at the bright side of cheap self install satellite systems.
Us (ISAA) installers get plenty of service calls,

ie : wind, updating receivers, connectors put on wrong, finding correct satellite, not aligned correctly, then we sell them a REAL FREESAT RECEIVER.

So we win in the long run

Regards,

Tomk1

I recently got the FTA Fortec box for less than 50e from Maplin for a few people, it was on sale now 65e, but a lovely receiver, hands down better than those Ldil boxes, easy to use control that doesn’t get confused. (I noticed that pressing up often results in down the last action ie down) not to mention the EPG.

The Freesat sounds the best as auto update when channels move transponder, but why did they put Sky news as other channels, not that your missing anything given that BBCnews and Sky news are mirrors of each other. It just seems like the Freesat trying to get back at Sky for removing the fta channels from their EPG. Unless its to do with license.

I know that many people now have to look for a VHF aerial and finding a good cheap one is difficult and then installing can be tedious with weak signals so prob better in the long run to get an installer to do the job. (I’m not an installer just a novice amateur that has spent many cold wet hours messing around) I do like the shock on people’s faces when they see the FTA picture after they have been used to a fuzzy wavy, double bog1/2 picture. And they keep asking “you don’t have to pay?”

Aside: Will the digital system be on UHF?

givecredit

Tomk1 wrote: »

The Freesat sounds the best as auto update when channels move transponder, but why did they put Sky news as other channels, not that your missing anything given that BBCnews and Sky news are mirrors of each other. It just seems like the Freesat trying to get back at Sky for removing the fta channels from their EPG. Unless its to do with license.

Nothing to do with getting back at Sky. Its actually Sky who have not put Sky News on Freesat EPG. It costs circa stg£30,000 for an epg slot on freesat. Sky are free to add any free to air channel they want to Freesat Epg.

Tony

Maybe but do you really want to take over looking after a poor quality dish? I'm not sure there is a bright side as all bad equipment does is generate bad publicity for satellite services in general. in my view.

ISAA wrote: »

Look at the bright side of cheap self install satellite systems.
Us (ISAA) installers get plenty of service calls,

ie : wind, updating receivers, connectors put on wrong, finding correct satellite, not aligned correctly, then we sell them a REAL FREESAT RECEIVER.

So we win in the long run

Regards,

ISAA

Tony,

I would upgrade bad quality dishes to triax for example, I agree lidi/etc dishes rubbishes, then I would cover with warranty,

Regards,

Tony

That should improve things no question but is that not effectively installing a brand new system ? Does lidl 's no quibble return apply even if this dish was installed? I'm just worried that it would lead to negative publicity even though the installers intentions would be honourable.

ISAA wrote: »

Tony,

I would upgrade bad quality dishes to triax for example, I agree lidi/etc dishes rubbishes, then I would cover with warranty,

Regards,

Denethor

Installed a Lidl system for a neighbour a few months back, he has me driven demented everytime a channel moves frequency he wants it retuned straight away no matter how obscure the channel is, thats the big drawback with the FTA systems they can't update the channel line up. I'm sure theres probably hundreds of people who got FTA systems years ago and they've no idea that theres more FTA channels available since they originally got it tuned in

Freesat/Sat4free all the way I say

Mike 1972

givecredit wrote: »

Its actually Sky who have not put Sky News on Freesat EPG. It costs circa stg£30,000 for an epg slot on freesat.

I can never understand how EPG operators can justify charging so much but since $ky themselves do the same to the broadcasters wanting to get on their EPG Its a case of what goes around coming around.

Anyway I dunno why so many people make such an issue about $ky news its not as if there arent far better alternatives available in this day and age and in any case isint there a (probably better) "add channels" facility on freesat ?

Denethor wrote: »

thats the big drawback with the FTA systems they can't update the channel line up.

One can always do a scan (assuming transponder lists are correct) but then one winds up with a shipload of Interactive streams/feeds/dead channels/tests/pointless duplicates/subregions/Test cards/Logos/Promos/Unwanted shopping channels/+1 rubbish/Gaming/Religion/Softporn/"TXT ME" nonsense.................

stevethesatguy

Was wondering why I got so many calls yesterday from people wanting me to put up a satellite dish that they had bought,,,,,,,,,just for the record we do NOT put up those awful philex dishes for anyone ever,,,,the bl**dy things shake, rattle and roll every time the wind gets up,,,,by all means buy the cheap kit,,but really and truly you need to install it yourself,,,,and in a years time when the wife has you driven demented because emmerdale. eastenders, how to look good naked,,,,, is unwatchable from November to April , ring you local installer and pay him to put up a proper 60cm dish,,,, every winter I replace 20 -30 of these dishes and the same thing happens every time,,,,,the kids are realy happy because they get to see Pop or kix for the first time,,,,the husband is happy because he gets to see Men and motors for the first time and the good lady of the house is amazed that Film4 and True movies are available FREE,,,,

BTW you can get a good free to air package from a few Irish sites for under a €100 and there is not a Philex dish in sight,,be nice on the phone and you might even get a satellite meter for free.

Thats todays rant over with, time for a coffee!!

Finne1993

Well for me anyway a Sky box is the best all round solution to the FTA/Freesat problem, all channels are on the EPG including Sky News, all the music channels, kids, etc etc.

Add Five and UTV to other channels or buy a white FTV card for £20 and get proper NI EPG with BBC NI, UTV, Sky3, Five, Fiver, Five US, Liverpool TV, CH4+1 on it.

Full 7 day EPG.

It automatically updates.

It can be distributed all around the house via RF and magic eyes will work directly from them.

Best picture quality.

User friendly (Everyone knows how to use a Sky Box.)

Remote control will also work TV

Cheap, (literally millions of second hand ones for sale here and in the UK)

No brainer as far as I'm concerned

Tony

I must disagree, on the one hand you say all channels are on the epg where in fact some freesat channels must be added manually and they will not auto update if transmission parameters change. As for best picture quality I've seen no difference between a fressat and a sky box, both use RGB out.

Not everyone knows how to use a sky box , it has to be learned just as a freesat box does.

I do agree though the the RF out feature is very useful on a sky box with remote eyes so pros and cons with both boxes.

Finne1993 wrote: »

Well for me anyway a Sky box is the best all round solution to the FTA/Freesat problem, all channels are on the EPG including Sky News, all the music channels, kids, etc etc.

Add Five and UTV to other channels or buy a white FTV card for £20 and get proper NI EPG with BBC NI, UTV, Sky3, Five, Fiver, Five US, Liverpool TV, CH4+1 on it.

Full 7 day EPG.

It automatically updates.

It can be distributed all around the house via RF and magic eyes will work directly from them.

Best picture quality.

User friendly (Everyone knows how to use a Sky Box.)

Remote control will also work TV

Cheap, (literally millions of second hand ones for sale here and in the UK)

No brainer as far as I'm concerned

Finne1993

Tony wrote: »

I must disagree, on the one hand you say all channels are on the epg where in fact some freesat channels must be added manually and they will not auto update if transmission parameters change. As for best picture quality I've seen no difference between a fressat and a sky box, both use RGB out.

Not everyone knows how to use a sky box , it has to be learned just as a freesat box does.

I do agree though the the RF out feature is very useful on a sky box with remote eyes so pros and cons with both boxes.

Only downside really is that Five must be added to other channels and once its added is as handy as pressing services, then 7, then select your channel.

ITV is on the EPG, its only if you want the regional variations; UTV, STV etc, that you'll then have to go the other channels route.

But as I said this can be cured by buying a FTV card for £20 and you then have the full bouquet of FTA and FTV channels like Sky3, Fiver, Five US, Liverpool TV and CH4+1, (& CH4HD if you have it in a Sky HD Box)


The vast vast majority of people know how to use a Sky remote and it is very user friendly unlike the freesat remotes, the volume and the TV control feature makes it so less complicated for people who only need the one remote now.

Well thats the feedback I get from everyone who has that set up, and I've set up many like that but everyone has their own preferences I guess so we'll just have to agree to disagree!!

IrishHomer

Finne1993 wrote: »

Only downside really is that Five must be added to other channels and once its added is as handy as pressing services, then 7, then select your channel.

ITV is on the EPG, its only if you want the regional variations; UTV, STV etc, that you'll then have to go the other channels route.

But as I said this can be cured by buying a FTV card for £20 and you then have the full bouquet of FTA and FTV channels like Sky3, Fiver, Five US, Liverpool TV and CH4+1, (& CH4HD if you have it in a Sky HD Box)


The vast vast majority of people know how to use a Sky remote and it is very user friendly unlike the freesat remotes, the volume and the TV control feature makes it so less complicated for people who only need the one remote now.

Well thats the feedback I get from everyone who has that set up, and I've set up many like that but everyone has their own preferences I guess so we'll just have to agree to disagree!!

I have both boxes and i find the Sky box is so easy i can use it with my eyes closed.

Tony

Finne1993 wrote: »

I guess so we'll just have to agree to disagree!!

Yep I guess so

pa990

i opt for freesat, as you can't see what channels / programmes you're missing..
Thus Less temptation to subscribe to sky.

I've often thought of going back to sky.. But i'm just too tight

ShamoBuc

Have been using freesat for years and I must say I find it perfect for my needs. Most of the shows I would want to watch are on Five bbc and itv so I mostly flick between them - that is once cbeebees is over !

mfceiling

stevethesatguy wrote: »

Was wondering why I got so many calls yesterday from people wanting me to put up a satellite dish that they had bought,,,,,,,,,just for the record we do NOT put up those awful philex dishes for anyone ever,,,,the bl**dy things shake, rattle and roll every time the wind gets up,,,,by all means buy the cheap kit,,but really and truly you need to install it yourself,,,,and in a years time when the wife has you driven demented because emmerdale. eastenders, how to look good naked,,,,, is unwatchable from November to April , ring you local installer and pay him to put up a proper 60cm dish,,,, every winter I replace 20 -30 of these dishes and the same thing happens every time,,,,,the kids are realy happy because they get to see Pop or kix for the first time,,,,the husband is happy because he gets to see Men and motors for the first time and the good lady of the house is amazed that Film4 and True movies are available FREE,,,,

BTW you can get a good free to air package from a few Irish sites for under a €100 and there is not a Philex dish in sight,,be nice on the phone and you might even get a satellite meter for free.

Thats todays rant over with, time for a coffee!!

Hi steve,

Could you pm me details of where??
Want to get rid of NTL - almost 30 quid a month for 17 channels!!
Not really big into tele but just want the regular channels - anything else would be a bonus!!

P.S - do the systems that you can buy in argos etc for "throwing the tv signals" around the house mean you can watch the channels in bedrooms etc without having to spend extra on more tv points??
Cheers, Gary

Tony

Take a look here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=155714

mfceiling wrote: »

Hi steve,

Could you pm me details of where??

Muas Tenek

I bought a Philex system from a well known electrical retailer last March when UPC subscription lapsed. Installed it myself and have not had one problem since. Over 100 channels plus RTE, TV3 and TG4 on rabbit ears.
This year I have saved €200, next year I will save €300 - missing only the comedy channel but I can live with that as they mostly only have repeats of shows on other channels. FTA satellite is definitely the way to go - high quality TV and no bills

Pangea

Hmm whats the difference between free to air and free sat?

I have free to air i think with a white dish outside.

Tony

Freesat boxes have 7 day programme guide, auto update of firmware and new channels and red button interactive features.

Pangea wrote: »

Hmm whats the difference between free to air and free sat?

I have free to air i think with a white dish outside.

Pangea

Tony wrote: »

Freesat boxes have 7 day programme guide, auto update of firmware and new channels and red button interactive features.

ok thanks ,but i mean in term of the actually difference, is there a different dish and a different box?

Tony

Pangea wrote: »

ok thanks ,but i mean in term of the actually difference, is there a different dish and a different box?

The box is different (thats why i said freesat box) and 60cm or bigger dish can be used with a fresat box pointing at the astra 2/eurobird sky satellite.